Support for Patients

Created by Latroya Brown on 12/14/2021

This is my first blog in almost 3 years. A few years ago, my mother was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). If you know what this is, then you know it can be a devasting diagnosis. This was unexpected for my family, and we had to make a hard decision rather quickly. My mother was told her kidney function was failing and she only had about 2 weeks to live. The doctors wanted her to start hemodialysis, and this is not something she wanted to do. From my experience working in long-term care, this is something that can be life-sustaining but hard on the patient. The physician presented this to her as if it were the only option. It was only because of my family’s history and my background in the medical field (I am not a licensed medical professional) that we knew there was at least one other option.

I remember feeling hopeless and fearful of my mother dying. It was finally decided she would do peritoneal dialysis (PD). This is a treatment that is not as hard on the body and can be done at home 7 days a week. This can be done over the course of approximately 10 hours, sometimes more depending on the patient, and while you sleep. The staff at the dialysis clinic was amazing. My mother received the best treatment my family could have ever hoped for.

Given the circumstances this was an extremely positive experience. One of the requirements of being able to do PD at home was that the patient had a support person that could attend a weeklong training and assist the patient with the process and treatments. This made me think about all the people that would choose this treatment if they #1 were aware of it being an option and #2 had the proper support person(s). As amazing as the staff was to my mother, I can’t help but feel like it could be so great for patients and families to have someone that has been through the process and provide support from a patient and/or family point of view. Let them know there is hope. Let them know there are other options besides hemodialysis or giving up.

I started writing blogs years ago because I wanted to bring awareness to different topics related to seniors, vulnerable adults, and veterans. I stopped when my mother became sick. I felt that it would be best to make my first “coming back” blog about my experience over the past few years. I believe sharing our experiences can help others who my be going through the same thing. It’s great to have professionals to help, we need medical professionals, but there is an aspect of care that someone who has never been through what you and your loved ones are going through cannot provide. To anyone who has been diagnosed with ESRD, to anyone who is on a kidney transplant list, or has received a transplant, I want them to know you have support. You are not alone.

This can be a trying time for families. The time off work can cause financial strain, the role of being caregiver and family member is not easy. This may be especially difficult if the situation was not expected. There are appointments that can’t be missed, some scheduled without given the family much notice. These are things that others including employers may not understand. I was blessed with employers that were accommodating to my situation, but not everyone will be this lucky. My personal advice is don’t isolate yourself. If people offer to help, don’t let your pride stop you from accepting help. The most important thing to remember is never give up.

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment and share your experiences. If there is a topic you would like to discuss, please let me know. I hope you return next week for more of me Sharing My Thoughts!